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Sara Sanders Gardner's work in the disability field began in 2001, and includes creating and directing an internationally recognized neurodiversity educational college program at Bellevue College in Washington State, U.S., and designing and delivering Neurodiversity Cultural Responsiveness live training workshops for Microsoft's Neurodiversity Hiring program since 2015, as well as e-Learning across 7 countries for Amazon Web Services, among many other institutions, universities, and corporations. 

Sara's lived experience as an autistic person, along with their work with neurodivergent people, their families, colleagues and supervisors, including 10 years teaching neurodivergent students in college classes, gives Sara a unique insight into the communication and needs of this population as well as the strengths that they bring to their schools, work, and communities.  Connect on LinkedIn

As an autistic individual navigating a career for 30 years, Sara has the lived experience to understand and communicate the subject matter. As an autistic disability professional who has worked in the field for over 20 years, Sara has experience learning about and working with thousands of unique autistic, neurodivergent, and otherwise disabled individuals and their families, faculty, supervisors, and colleagues. 

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Neurodiversity Cultural Responsiveness content includes a social justice perspective that encompasses neurodivergent communication in context, barriers faced by neurodivergent people, and a conversation about Neurodivergent culture. Viewed through a social justice lens, we examine accommodations, impacts of disability, and the convergence of communication styles. Attendees frequently leave with a better understanding of interactions with all colleagues, including but not limited to neurodivergent colleagues.  

Advanced training workshops are also available to delve deeper into topics or answer specific questions. Workshops designed for Human Resources or other team-specific topics are available. Please inquire!

Q1) How can you do this in one hour? Most trainers are quoting at least a half-day!

A1) Experience proves that effective training doesn't have to be complicated or long. Recent research shows that the real barrier is in the difficulty that non-autistic people and autistic people experience in understanding each other. This workshop breaks down those barriers, including barriers participants didn't realize existed between other groups. 

Q2) Why do you use the word "autistic"? Isn't "person with autism" better?

A2) As an autistic person myself, I use identity first language almost exclusively. Others may decide that person-first language is more comfortable for them, however, the disabled person should be the one to ultimately decide how they wish to be defined. 

Q3) Does the neurodivergent co-worker attend the workshop?

A3) It depends. If it's a new hire, sometimes the workshop is held prior to their starting date. However, many neurodivergent employees have attended these workshops with overwhelmingly positive responses to the material. If they do attend, they can add to the conversation. It should be up to them, of course. Similarly, in a classroom setting, neurodivergent students can attend and add to the conversation. 

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Sara's teaching experience has brought a wealth of knowledge in curriculum design to support neurodivergent students, support classroom management, and much more! Workshops are available individually or as a package. Workshops can be tailored to staff needs as well. 

1) Neurodiversity Cultural Responsiveness: Improving Communication & Understanding  

Participants in this 90-minute interactive workshop will have the opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, and learn to better understand and communicate with neurodivergent people. We will identify current practices you are already using and answer questions you have coming into the workshop, as well as those that arise throughout. We will explore neurodiversity as a culture, including communication tools for interacting in a culturally responsive manner. Participants will be better able to recognize and respond to communication patterns and needs of neurodivergent people and will come away with tools to apply best practices in their daily lives. Resources for future learning will be shared as well. Faculty, administrators, and staff will benefit from attending. 

2) Pedagogical Practices that Support Neurodivergent Students and Others

Participants in this 90-minute interactive workshop will have the opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, and learn new ways to teach and assess neurodivergent students, as well as provide a flexible environment for all students. We will identify current practices you are already using and answer questions you have coming into the workshop, as well as those that arise throughout. We will explore designing curriculum and assessments to deliver an accessible educational experience to all students, and particularly neurodivergent students, including weaving classroom accommodations into pedagogy. Participants will come away with information they can implement right away that will make a difference in student access and response. Resources for future learning will be shared as well. This session is designed for Academic Administrators, faculty, and instructional designers. 

3) Common Accommodations and Pedagogy: When & How to Refer to Disability Services and When You Can Accommodate Within Class

Participants in this 90-minute interactive workshop will have the opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, and explore common and less common ADA accommodations that are used in college environments. We will discuss proactive as well as responsive ways to ensure not only legal compliance but true inclusion and accessibility. Participants will learn new ways to incorporate common accommodations into pedagogy to support neurodivergent and other disabled students, as well as provide a flexible environment for all students. We will identify current practices you are already using and answer questions you have coming into the workshop, as well as those that arise throughout. Participants will come away with practical tools they can implement right away that will make a difference in student access and response. Resources for future learning will be shared as well. This session is designed for Academic Administrators, faculty, and instructional designers. Disability Service professionals may also wish to attend.

4) Managing Classroom Behaviors 

Participants in this 90-minute interactive workshop will have the opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, and explore proactive and responsive behavior management tools for college environments. We will review past learnings and consider correlations between course design and delivery, and student regulation. Participants will learn how to establish classroom expectations and create relationships at the start that will support student behavioral management and intervention. We will identify current practices you are already using and answer questions you have coming into the workshop, as well as those that arise throughout. Participants will come away with practical tools they can implement right away that will make a difference in the student and faculty experience. Resources for future learning will be shared as well. This session is designed for Academic Administrators, faculty, and instructional designers. Student Affairs professionals may also wish to attend.

Further Information 

Follow-up questions and challenges are provided for each workshop. These can be led internally or facilitated by presenter following the workshop(s). Application workshops led by the trainer can also be held. 

Workshops can be combined into a full-day workshop if desired, or another combination that works for you. Please inquire! 

More questions? Please Contact Us or Schedule a meeting now!